Chopper pump

ABSTRACT

A chopper pump capable of chopping suspended organic particles and pumping the same is disclosed. The pump comprises a housing having first and second spaced apart plates defining a pump chamber therebetween. The housing has an intake orifice extending through one of the plates which is in communication with the pump chamber at the central portion thereof. The housing also has a discharge opening in communication with the pump chamber at the periphery of the plates. A powered drive shaft rotatably extends through the other plate and has a plurality of vanes pivotally secured thereto within the pump chamber. A vane shield is mounted on the drive shaft and is positioned between the intake orifice and the pivotal vanes. A plurality of spaced apart blades are positioned between the plates radially outwardly of the vanes. Rotation of the drive shaft causes the vanes to centrifugally force fluid and the organic particles suspended therein radially outwardly through the blades. The hammering action of the vanes against the organic material and the forcing of the organic material through the blades causes the size of the material to be reduced to permit their further handling.

United States Patent [191 Van Ee I I CHOPPER PUMP [75] Inventor: Gary R. Van Ee, Otley, Iowa [73] Assignee: Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc., Ames, Iowa [22] Filed: Mar. 16, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 235,177

[52] US. Cl 24l/46.08, 241/95, 241/188 R [51] Int. Cl. 1302c 13/16 [58] Field of Search 241/46 R, 46.02, 46.06,

Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmZarley, McKee & Thomte [451 Apr. 30, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT A chopper pump capable of chopping suspended organic particles and pumping the same is disclosed. The pump comprises a housing having first and second spaced apart plates defining a pump chamber therebetween. The housing has an intake orifice extending through one of the plates which is in communication with the pump chamber at the central portion thereof. The housing also has a discharge opening incommunication with the pump chamber at the periphery of the plates. A powered drive shaft rotatably extends through the other plate and has a plurality of vanes pivotally secured thereto within the pump chamber. A vane shield is mounted on the drive shaft and is positioned between the intake orifice and the pivotal vanes. A plurality of spaced apart blades are positionedbetween the plates radially outwardly of the vanes. Rotation of the drive shaft causes the vanes to centrifugally force fluid and the organic particles suspended therein radially outwardly through the blades.

The hammering action of the .vanes against the organic material and the forcing of the organic material through the blades causes the size of the material to be reduced to permit their further handling.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures v CHOPPER PUMP Many attempts have been made to economically and satisfactorily process and pump liquid materials having organic matter suspended therein. An extremely difficult and troublesome situation is present.

in the processing and pumping of liquid. poultry wastes which have feathers suspended therein. Present pumps either plug up trying to chop and pump the solution or fail to adequately reduce the size of the feathers therein thus causing the drain line to clog. Previous pumps have also been found to be too slow in handling the liquid wastes. A difficult and troublesome situation is also persent in the cattle and swine facilities due to the animal hairs and forage products being suspended in the liquid animal wastes which cause the pumps to plug or the drain line to clog.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide an improved pump.

A further object of this invention is to provide a centrifugal pump which is capable of chopping suspended organic particles.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump having a uniquely designed orifice associated therewith.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump having pivotal vanes therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump including a vane shield which substantially reduces vortex disturbances and limits the size of the product entering the pump.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump having a vane shield therein which covers the pivotal vanes when the vanes are folded back.

A further objet of this invention is to provide a chopper pump which may be easily adjusted to reduce the organic material to the desired particle size.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump which is capable of chopping feathers and the like.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump which economically and satisfactorily processes and pumps liquid materials having organic materials suspended therein. 1

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump which will function in a horizontal or vertical condition.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump including a plurality of stationary blades which are spaced radially outwardly from pivotal vanes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chopper pump which is economical of manufacture, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplates are attained as hereinafter more fully set'forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 1

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the pump of this invention installed in a typical drain line.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the pump of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view seen along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view illustrating the relationship of a vane and the stationary blades.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view seen along lines 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 except that the vanes are shown in their radially extended position.

-FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 except that the stationary blades are shown to be more closely spaced than in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded sectional view of the pump with portions thereof cut away to more fully illustrate the invention.

The pump of this invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral 10 comprising generally a base plate 12, top plate 14, orifice l6 and housing 18.

Base plate 12 includes a portion 20 having a hub portion 22 extending downwardly therefrom as illustrated in FIG. 5. A drive shaft 24 rotatable extends upwardly through hub portion 22 and is supported by bearings 26 and 28. A pair of seals 30 are provided above bearing 28 to prevent fluid from passing downwardly through the hub portion 22.

Pulley 32 is splined onto the lower end of drive s l aft 24 and is normally driven by an electric motor 34 and V-belt 36. The upper end of drive shaft 24 has an enlarged portion provided thereon having a plurality of horizontally extending ears 38 provided thereon. A cutter vane .40 is pivotallysupported on each of the ears 38 by means of pin 42 extending downwardly therethrough in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5. A vane shield 44 is secured to the upper end of the drive shaft 24 by means of bolt 46 as illustrated in FIG. 5. The vane shield 44 is flat and is positioned over the pins 42 so as to maintain the pins 42 in position.

Housing 18 embraces the plates 12 and 14 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5 and is provided with a discharge opening 48 outwardly of the periphery of the plates 12 and 14 as seen in FIG. 5. A vertically disposed wall member 50 is provided in the housing to aid in guiding the fluid into the discharge opening 48. FIG. 2 illustrates the fact that the discharge opening could be provided at the upper end of the pump housing so that the pump would pump the fluid upwardly rather than the downwardly manner sown in the drawings. 1 l

The orifice 16 is secured to plate 14 by any convenient means such as welding or the like. Orifice 16 includes a vertically disposed cylinder 50 having throat portion 52 provided therein as illustrated in FIG. 5. The cylindrical member 50 and troat portion 52 may be integrally formed if desired. Throat portion 52 includes an entrance area 54 and it can be seen that the throat portion 52 extends downwardly and' outwardly the refrom to define a conical shape. The design of the throat portion 52 is such that fluid turbulance is substantially eliminated directly above the vane shield 44 to enhance the pumping action of the pump. the relationship of the throst portion 52 and the vane shield 44 is such that they limit the-size of the product entering the pump and cooperate to reduce vortex disturbances within the fluid entering the pump so as to increase the efficiency of the pump.

Plates l2 and 14 are provided with a plurality of radially extending slots 56 and 58 formed therein respectively. A stationary blade 60 is mounted in each of the slots 56 and 58 in such a manner so as to have their inner ends positioned outwardly of the vanes 40 as illustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the numeral 62 refers to the vane to blade clearance while the letter A refers to the clearance angle. In FIG. 4, B refers to the cutting edge angle while C refers to the blade angle. The principal design considerations of the blade 60 with respect to the vanes 40 are as follows. The vane to blade clearance 62 would be the minimum possible blade to vane clearance without obtaining vane to blade contact.

Angle A is the clearance angle and is very important in blade angle such that the position of the blade is exactly parallel to the direction of the fluid as it leaves the vanes. Knowledge of the pump geometry, flow rate and drive speed permits the flow path to be calculated. B is the cutting edge angle as previously stated. Ideally B equals C minus A but slight variations can be made depending upon the type of fluid being pumped and the material suspended therein.

The blade spacing is critical in that it effects the size of the chopped particles. The optimum blade spacing would be dependent on the particles in soution and the desired size of the chopper end product. If the blade spacing is too small, the machine will plug up. For feathers, the optimum spacing is a blade every 12 to with respect to the center of rotation of the drive shaft. The drive shaft 24 may be powered as shown but it should be understood that the drive shaft could also be extended upwardly through the orifice with the power supplied to the upper end of the shaft. It has been found that the drive shaft 24 must be rotated at least 100 r.p.m. to force the pivotal vanes 40 outwardly in a radial fashion. The maximum speed is determined by the structural strength of the vane assembly and acceptable pump efficiency. For feathers, a speed between 900 and 2,000 r.p.m. was found to adequately chop feathers.

In operation, the fluid with the material suspended therein is introduced into the entrance area of the orifice. With the drive shaft 24 rotating at the predetermined speed, the vanes 40 are positioned as illustrated in FIG. 6. The vane shield 44 functions as previously described. The straight and smooth configuration of the vanes 40 insure that the material will not cling or stick thereon. The rotating vanes 40 cause the device to pump the fluid therethrough in a centrifugal manner. The heavy metal construction of the vanes 40 gives the vanes sufficient inertia so as to chop the feathers or material in the fluid while remaining in a radial" position thereby permitting the pump to continue pumping. The pivotal connection of the vanes 40 with respect to the drive shaft is extremely important. Any cutting vane 40 that fails to cut the particle (force the particle through the stationary bladd 60) on the first attempt, causes that particular blade to pivot backwardly such as illustrated in FIG. 3 thereby permitting the pump to continue to rotate while continually cutting at the stubborn particle until it is completely chopped up. The successive hammering action of the vanes 40 against the particle will eventually cause the particle to be forced through the stationary blades. The pivoting cutter vanes 40 have two notable effects on the pump: (1) as soon as the stubborn particles start to collect in the pump, the vanes start to swing backward allowing successive vanes to attach the particle until it is destroyed;

(2) while the cutter vanesare swing backwardly, they cease to perform their pumping function thus allowing the pump to clear itself of particles before it pumps in additional volumes of solution. The shield 44 covers the cutter vanes when they are swung backwardly to the position such as illustrated in FIG. 3 thereby preventing particles from collecting or clinging to the vanes. The shield 44 also helps to shut off the pumping functions of the vanes when they are in their pivoted position. The shield 44 creates a smooth interface between the center of the vane rotar and the solution thereby minimizing the vortex turbulence in the intake orifice of the pump.

Thus, the vanes 40 hammer at the particles and drive the particles outwardly through the stationary blades which cut or chop the particles to the desired size. The

vanes 40 not only hammer at the particles but pump the fluid in a centrifugal manner so that the fluid is forced outwardly through the discharge opening 48. The pump will function whether it is disposed in the horizontal manner seen in the drawings or in a vertical condition. As previously stated, the discharge opening 48 could be provided in the housing as illustrated by broken lines in FIG. 2. I

A typical installation isshown in FIG. 1 and it can be seen that the pump 10 has been installed in the floor of a building so that the intake orifice is in communication with the floor drain. Thus, the poultry wastes flow into the floor drain and are'pumped and chopped by the pump so that the fluid and particles are discharged through the drain line 64. Thus it can be seen that the pump accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

1 claim:

1. A chopper pump, comprising,

a pump housing having first and second plate members defining a chamber therebetween, said pump housing having a discharge opening, and an intake orifice with intake and discharge ends and being in communication with said chamber, said intake orifice being a cylindrical member having a truncated, conical throat portion secured at its discharge end to said first plate member,

a rotor means rotatably mounted between said plate members in said chamber, said rotor means comprising a drive shaft having a plurality of vane members pivotally secured thereto and extending radially therefrom, a circular plate element secured to said drive shaft between the discharge end of said intake orifice and said vane members, said plate element having a diameter sufficient to substantially shield said vane members when said vane members have pivotally moved out of their radially extended positions, said rotor means being centrally positioned with respect to the discharge end of said orifice,

said plate element being positioned closely adjacent the discharge end of said intake orifice and having a diameter less than said discharge end, said plate element cooperating with said throat portion of said intake orifice to reduce vortex disturbances within fluids which enter the pump, and to limit the will be pumped outwardly from said chamber through said discharge opening.

2. The pump of claim 1 wherein each of said first and second plate members have a plurality of radially ex- 5 tending slots formed therein, said cutting blades being positioned in said slots. 

1. A chopper pump, comprising, a pump housing having first and second plate members defining a chamber therebetween, said pump housing having a discharge opening, and an intake orifice with intake and discharge ends and being in communication with said chamber, said intake orifice being a cylindrical member having a truncated, conical throat portion secured at its discharge end to said first plate member, a rotor means rotatably mounted between said plate members in said chamber, said rotor means comprising a drive shaft having a plurality of vane members pivotally secured thereto and extending radially therefrom, a circular plate element secured to said drive shaft between the discharge end of said intake orifice and said vane members, said plate element having a diameter sufficient to substantially shield said vane members when said vane members have pivotally moved out of their radially extended positions, said rotor means being centrally positioned with respect to the discharge end of said orifice, said plate element being positioned closely adjacent the discharge end of said intake orifice and having a diameter less than said discharge end, said plate element cooperating with said teroat portion of said intake orifice to reduce vortex disturbances within fluids which enter the pump, and to limit the size of any material passing from the intake orifice into said chamber, a plurality of spaced apart cutting blades secured to and extending between said plate members outwardly of said rotor means, and means for rotating said rotor means so that fluid entering said housing through said intake orifice will be pumped outwardly from said chamber through said discharge opening.
 2. The pump of claim 1 wherein each of said first and second plate members have a plurality of radially extending slots formed therein, said cutting blades being positioned in said slots. 